


Moment to Moment

by LinaLuthor, writingwithmolls



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: "what is a camera timer", Byleth is SUS, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, F/F, Multi, Polyamory, and loves her partners dearly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28181514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinaLuthor/pseuds/LinaLuthor, https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingwithmolls/pseuds/writingwithmolls
Summary: Byleth discovers a feature on her phone that lets her take photos on a timer that leads to a new passion for photography. With a bit of help from her friends and a lot of hard work she creates a Christmas present for Edelgard and Dorothea that none of them will ever forget.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg, Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, Dorothea Arnault/My Unit | Byleth, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 12
Kudos: 23





	Moment to Moment

“Darling, why do you look so upset?” Dorothea asked just as the sun was beginning to make its descent and the park was plunging into shadows. “Is there something the matter?”

Byleth sighed in response, looking around at the scenery. The river in front of them reflected yellow, pink and orange lights which danced over it as the sun gradually hid from the world after a balmy day that had also been graced with chilly breezes which whispered of the autumn to come. As a result there were fewer people in the moment than earlier in the afternoon, families and lovers leaving once temperatures had dropped and the world around them quieted.

Even though it had been a peaceful day, Byleth had tensed between her two lovers as they both leaned against her. Her own back was against a grand tree that they had scouted out along the path. It had offered them shade while the sun still burned overhead and now a front row seat to the wonderful sunset. Edelgard shifted and looked up to her. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing big,” Byleth promised, but she still felt her heart sinking ever-so-slightly. Her eyes betrayed her as they avoided her loves and settled on leaves that were falling around them. “I was just thinking about how I wish we could capture this moment.” 

“Just take a picture!” Dorothea said, handing her phone over with a small laugh. “Then you can look at it whenever.”

“I want to take a picture of all three of us, though.” Byleth played with the phone in her hands, opening up the camera app and taking a quick picture of the river in front of them. It was beautiful, but still not as beautiful as her girlfriends.

It was something she had been thinking about for the last few days, ever since she had seen Mercedes’s pictures with her own polycule floating around social media, the three of them smiling sweetly (and sometimes not as sweetly) in stunning photos around historical buildings, parks and fancy restaurants. She always assumed that perhaps Hapi was behind them, snapping away pictures, or they had asked a stranger to take it.

“What… do you mean?” Edelgard asked, wrapping her sweater closer to herself as Byleth pondered the question. “You can just.. turn the camera to front-facing and we can take a selfie.”

“Not like that... “ Byleth continued, pouting. “Have you seen Mercie’s posts? They look so good. And they really can’t be selfies, those always come out bad.”

“Oh, By,” Dorothea said and she began to laugh, which only made Byleth pout even more. “Are you  _ jealous _ ?” she teased, poking her cheeks that were puffed out. “Do you miss her?”

Byleth was silent for a second, trying to figure out where that thought had come from—couldn’t she just admire the pictures for how amazing they were, while wanting to do something similar with her girls? They  _ had _ to keep up with the other local polycule after all. Besides, her and Mercie getting back together was never on the table. They worked much better as best friends than they ever had lovers.

“No,” Byleth said, Dorothea’s giggling fit subsiding when Edelgard raised her eyebrows at her. “I just think it would be nice to have pictures like that, not even to post, just for ourselves. We would need another person to take the picture.”

Edelgard and Dorothea looked at one another, and this time  _ both _ of them exploded into laughter. Byleth could do nothing but stare, trying her best not to feel hurt by their response and how dismissive they were being in regards to a matter that had been occupying her mind for a while as of then.

This caught the attention of some of the other families and couples on evening strolls as Dorothea nearly doubled over laughing and Edelgard hid her face in Byleth’s flannel. Even the ducks they had fed earlier in the afternoon seemed to be staring, their heads turning at the sudden sound before going on their merry way.

“What?” Byleth could no longer stand it, her cheeks turning the slightest bit red at all the attention they were getting.

“We should tell her,” Edelgard said, breathless. Even if she was laughing at  _ her _ , Byleth still loved the glow of her face and the beautiful laughs that rang through the park, a melody of their own in the beautiful late afternoon.

“Don’t tell her.” Dorothea had yet to stop chuckling, wiping tears away from eyes and shaking her head at the entire thing. 

“Tell her what,” Byleth said, pouting again as if her puppy dog eyes could help. 

Had they never really taken a picture with the three of them without outside help? They had been together for four years, but Byleth was beginning to realize that they had frighteningly few pictures with one another.

“I’ll buy your favorite dessert for a week if you don’t tell her,” Dorothea went on, finally not laughing as much anymore.

“That’s too mean, that’s too mean,” Edelgard said, waving her off, but still laughing at the proposition. “Give me Dorothea’s phone, love.”

Byleth passed the phone in her hand to Edelgard, who tapped pointed to a little icon on the top of the camera app. It showed some options for the pictures right away. 

“We got you and Dorothea the new iPhones so you could use portrait mode… do you even know how to use that?” Edelgard asked, but just sighed when Byleth shook her head. “Okay. So you click the little timer icon and then it gives you an option of three or ten seconds. Now watch this.” She clicked the first option then pressed down to take a picture. Instead of flashing right away, it counted down from three and then snapped the photo. “See? You can set it up, then run over and then we would have a picture together.”

Byleth looked like El had just told her that the goddess was real and directly in front of them. Inside her mobile even.

“We can… take a picture together?” Byleth double-checked just to make sure. Was that how Mercedes did it? There had never been any Hapi behind the camera?

“Yep, darling,” Dorothea said with a wink. “Want to try it out?” 

It was a stunning late afternoon to begin with, the day they had spent together in the park after a hellish week of work and almost not getting to see each other at home made sweeter by that moment, by them being together and as far as possible from the worries of the world. Now that her loves were no longer laughing at her due to that and were getting closer to her, their hands circling her waist and shoulders, she was entirely at home. It would feel nice to memorialize the moment with a photo. 

Byleth stood up, grabbing her backpack and using it to prop up Dorothea’s phone about ten feet away from them and facing the ancient, grandiose tree they had spent almost the entire day there, after taking a stroll around the park and setting down for a snack. She checked how the composition looked on the screen before clicking the newly discovered timer button and sprinting back over the grass to where her partners were sitting.

The first three tries went poorly, but by the fourth Byleth was satisfied with the photos that had been saved to their camera roll. It was a simple photo: the three of them leaning up against the tree as the golden light of the sun highlighted their faces, the wind ruffling their hair and some leaves framing them as well, already beginning to turn to red as autumn approached. Dorothea was still clearly laughing at her, but Edelgard was looking at Byleth as she did her best to act natural as if a picture wasn’t about to be snapped.

“See?” Dorothea asked, making sure to send the picture from her phone to the other two’s as well. “Isn’t that just magical, By?”

“You’ll tease me about this until the day we die, won’t you?” Byleth said after sighing, shaking her head at it. Though yes, a part of her was still amazed at how good technology could be.

“Only maybe,” Edelgard said.

“We won’t if you make it up in kisses.” Dorothea kissed her, smiling as she did so.

Unknown to them, that was just the beginning of Byleth’s new obsession with photography and all that it would entail.

* * *

“Mercie, help me.”

“This is rare,” Mercedes’s voice was a mixture between curious and tired since it was too early in the morning for Byleth to be calling her like that. “Byleth? Coming to  _ me _ for help?”

Byleth had never been one to be awake and functioning at 7:30 a.m., but she needed time to talk to Mercedes before her girls were out of their shower. The rush of water could be heard through the door and was hopefully enough to disguise the sound of her on the phone. Not that she hadn’t already been questioned as to why she wasn’t joining the shower, but she had slammed into a roadblock the previous night that she hadn’t expected, leaving her tossing and turning.

“Oh shut it, you’re saying this as if I never talk to you outside of sending you our latest pictures.” Byleth smirked, proud of the photos she had recently taken. “I’m working on a project and—” the nightmare of the night before flashed in her mind “—it’s not coming out the way I… imagined.”

Mercedes was silent for a few seconds, wondering what kind of project that could be. “Ok, is there a picture you can send me?”

“Uh, sure,” Byleth said, pulling the phone away from her ear and putting it on speaker so that she could see what she was doing outside of the call. She pulled up a photo of the night before and sent it to Mercedes.

“Oh.  _ Oh _ .” Mercedes must have been looking at the photo for her reaction to be so… stunned. “Is it a present for Halloween? Very spooky, I love all the black. What did you mix to make it look like real blood?”

It was Byleth’s turn to be silent; she knew her efforts weren’t really coming together as she had wanted them to, but that had sounded a little  _ too much _ . Sure, she had smeared the Sharpie in a way that the words seemed to drip down the page like from a fresh wound, but she didn’t have to be so  _ cruel _ . “Those were… supposed to be roses like the ones we have around the house. I was trying to draw them and all.”

“Byleth, remember how you were never really good at that art stuff? The last time you tried to draw our cat it came out looking like a gargoyle.” Mercedes could disguise the fact that she was laughing on the other end of the phone. There was also the faint rustling of blankets, meaning she was definitely showing either Annette, Constance, or both.

“Oh, is she applying for a position at the haunted house for the season?” Constance’s voice was muffled. “It’s a splendid execution of horrendous ambiance!”

“Enough,” Byleth said, almost pleading. “I was… trying to make a scrapbook for my girlfriends. I know it’s early for Christmas, but I wanted to put a lot of time into it… and it clearly isn’t turning out the way I wanted.”

“Oh my, a… scrapbook. Yes dear, you will  _ certainly _ need to put a lot of time into it,” Mercedes responded, before sobering up. “Where did you get the idea?”

“... Pinterest,” Byleth confessed, though she had seen something like it on Constance’s social media as well. “They gave me a camera for my birthday and I’ve been taking all those pictures of them.”

“Ok now that’s really cute,” Annie piped in, even though she had shied away from the picture that Mercedes showed them. “But… it needs to be a little more you know… cheerfulness. And less dark.”

“I get it, I get it,” Byleth said. She heard the sound of the shower turning off and frowned. She was banking on the two of them getting much more distracted than they had. “Okay, they’re about to get out of the shower, don’t spoil the surprise.”

“You got it,” Mercedes said, still giggling. “I’m going to send you some ideas and then perhaps you can come over? There will be a price.”

“Of course,” Byleth said, just as Dorothea entered the room with a towel around her. “So, will you help?”

Mercedes had clearly heard the door open, considering she then cheerfully said into the phone in the clearest voice she could muster, “Byleth, I’m not letting you borrow my strap again—that was a one-time thing.”

Dorothea turned to face her, a small smile on her lips while Byleth turned more crimson than the suits that Edelgard favored. She knew she wouldn’t hear the end of it for at least a few months if the conversation went on like that.

But she also  _ had  _ to play the part, right? “Oh c’mon, just for one more night. You did say we would share custody when we broke up.”

That’s when Dorothea burst into laughter, unable to properly get her clothes out of the drawer as she nearly fell to the ground. Edelgard entered, but had clearly missed the latter part of the conversation, frowning at the sight of one of her loves almost dead on the floor and the other blushing so vividly on the phone.

“We can discuss it later, in private,” Mercedes said. Byleth didn’t have to see her to know that she winked. “Later, cutie.”

“Bye.” Byleth groaned, hanging up and putting face into her hands.

“ _ Please _ don’t tell me that you’ve been bedding us with Mercie’s strap,” Dorothea said, only to earn a concerned glance from Edelgard.

“Don’t ask. Please don’t ask.” Byleth was starting to wonder if the price she was paying would be worth it, or if she should have just gone to the local school and have some kids help her instead. They would likely be able to do a better job with just craft scissors and construction paper than she would ever be able to accomplish.

Although she had started early on purpose, she didn’t actually expect the scrapbook to take all of the remainder of October, November,  _ and _ the first half of December.

The pictures continued to pile up. They started off as momentous occasions such as El’s promotion, Dorothea’s opening night, or even a movie that they had all been looking forward to. Then, she began to take pictures of the more mundane aspects of their life. There were countless photos of the three of them lying in bed on lazy Sunday mornings or the clutter of their kitchen counter. Shopping trips warranted a snap as well as trying out a new coffee shop that had opened down the street

And of course, Byleth couldn’t resist taking a picture of her two loves when they fell asleep on the couch during boring movies or after tiresome days at work.

Yet there was only so much Byleth could do by herself, as properly organizing the pictures on an actual scrapbook wasn’t something she was really that good at—if the nickname Haunted Scrapbook was any indication. That was when Mercedes’s help was needed, in exchange for various chores and errands, of course.

Byleth would be lucky when what she had to do was grocery shopping, even if she had to make sure every single piece of candy or ingredient for more desserts were accounted for. The one time she did forget chocolate chips, Mercedes threatened to call Dorothea and tell her there was a Haunted Scrapbook being made in their honor.

So Byleth would carefully check the shopping lists, even adding extra food to their order because she knew Ingrid had been hanging around more often than not.

When she would go over to Mercedes’s house to work on the scrapbook, they would spend hours pouring over the photos and choosing the ones that best represented their relationship. Byleth’s heart always felt like it was beating out of her chest when she would print new photos from the memory card of her camera and recognize the glances that Dorothea and Edelgard would give her even when she wasn’t looking. Some of the photos had her girls smiling while her back was turned, their warm gaze still lingering in the still of the photo.

Constance and Mercedes would sit her down at their dining room table and help her cut out pretty paper that they had lying around, the gilded paper shining in the light. And slowly the blotches of red that had meant to be roses actually became flowers, the writing entirely more legible and not blurred. The pages had more colors and memories in them, making the moments as eternal in her mind as she worked with those images as they were in the book itself. 

Annette offered her sticker collection—she had plenty since she was an elementary school teacher—and they added little embellishments to the pages. It helped bring some of the more simply-themed spreads to life as the little cats and birds joined them in the photos.

Even though Mercie’s handwriting was much neater than Byleth’s, they suggested that she was still the one to write the dates and captions on the photos. The girls promised that it was a nice little touch, even if it meant some of the captions were small and cramped, because it was her own handwriting and something they would be able to look fondly at.

Although Byleth would make sure neither Dorothea nor Edelgard got too suspicious as to why she was going to Mercedes’s house so often—and why their grocery bill had almost doubled, if not tripled, in the last few months—it was impossible for them to not notice something was happening. That there was no way Byleth was being called for working extra hours that often, even if she was one of the best in the entire place to begin with.

They had even tried to reiterate that they were willing to have an open relationship if she was more comfortable with that, and Byleth had even said “yes” in hopes that it would dispel the suspicion she had accumulated over the past three months. In a sense it did, though it was kind of tiresome to have to make up an imaginary date or two (or ten) just to answer their well-meaning questions, which they would ask with warm smiles on their faces.

Mercedes and the girls just laughed way too much whenever she talked about that, of course. It was easier to hide the secrets the closer that Christmas got considering her girls were hiding presents as well. It was always obvious—Dorothea warning her not to check a specific drawer or Edelgard hiding packages from Byleth—but it was sweet all the same. She only hoped that her gift would be just as thoughtful. At least it wasn’t scary anymore, with the edges softened and the colors brightened by the love and the attention she had bestowed upon crafting it.

When Christmas morning arrived, they woke up early to bake cinnamon rolls and brew coffee before sitting down in front of their small tree that they had decorated with fish ornaments and little stars. For a moment Byleth was a little discouraged since her own package was too plain when compared to theirs; as Dorothea gave her a long rectangular gift after kissing her on the lips and Edelgard did the same, placing a giant gift bag in her hands.

Dorothea’s gift to both of them had been matching necklaces. They were pendants with three small moons in them, each with a different moon phase. It was already a beautiful present, but Dorothea explained excitedly that each of the phases coincided with the day that they were born. Edelgard got Dorothea and Byleth different giant plushies, a red fox for Dorothea and a carp for Byleth, which made them laugh at how terrible, yet wonderful it was—especially since they were so big and soft and would look amazing next to each other over the bed.

Byleth needed a moment to center herself after getting those gifts for all that they represented in such unique, amazing ways. Her family had never been big on gift giving, so once she had started dating and realized that was a thing with others it had surprised her at first. Sure, she had grown more used to it after all those years, but it was still a bit overwhelming when she saw how much thought her loves put into it. How much thought they put into her and them as a whole, no matter what the gifts were.

Yet they were looking at the package cradled in her hand, holding hands and extending one to her as well in order to see if that would help her in some way or another. In the end that did prompt her to smile and eventually offer the polka dotted gift over to her partners. “Sorry, it’s a shared gift.”

“No apologizing,” Dorothea said, leaning forward and kissing her. “Let’s open it together.”

Both her and Edelgard began to unwrap the gift, taking special care not to tear the present underneath. Byleth watched, barely remembering to breathe. She just hoped that they saw as much worth in the little present as she had experienced putting it together.

When they were finally able to get to the scrapbook their eyes widened, each holding it with one hand and already speechless at the cover itself. It had three little golden hearts holding hands over a crimson background. 

“Oh,” Edelgard whispered, running her hand over the cover. “Did you… make this?”

“Open it,” Byleth urged, looking expectantly to her partners, but keeping her hands folded in her lap nervously. Constance and Annie had both been blown away by the final results, but that wasn’t only a test run. Now, it was the real deal. “I made it with some help from someone.”

“Who?” Dorothea asked, a teasing smile gracing her lips. “Your new girlfriend?”

“Do we get to meet her? Is that the extra gift?” Edelgard chimed in, partly teasing, mostly curious about that whole ordeal.

“Shh,” Byleth hushed. “I don’t have a new girlfriend. Please? Just open it?”

All the laughter and jokes faded when Edelgard and Dorothea opened up to the first page—that first picture she had taken of all three of them as autumn was beginning to arrive. It wasn’t as graceful in its composition as the newer pieces, but it was the first instance that had made her think about why it was important to capture those moments. The picture of them under the tree was paired with the photo she had snapped of the river in front of them, the lights which had danced over the surface and painted another picture, one that had been theirs and mostly theirs to see. One that had symbolized not only that afternoon, that silly moment when Byleth had learned about the magic of a timer button, but all the love, the joking, the support and warmth that had been such an important part of their relationship. 

“By?” Dorothea asked, her voice soft. “You… made us a scrapbook?”

They turned the page to a simple breakfast scene: a picture of the table with plates of pancakes and eggs and then a different photo of Dorothea at the stove with Edelgard keeping close watch. Edelgard had a gentle hand resting on the small of Dorothea’s back, the intimacy hard to miss. They did chuckle for a second as they recalled that the meal had burned just a little, but then it was because Dorothea had distracted Edelgard with kisses for far too long.

The rest of the pictures continued very much the same, each with a small caption and date written by Byleth. There were photos of all three of them, one or two of them, or even just of their apartment that they shared—the space that they had grown into and made theirs. Byleth was nervous as the two women were nearly silent as they continued to flip through the pages, lingering on the loving glances and the hard work that Byleth had spent so much time on.

“So…” Byleth finally said as they saw the last page. It was the three of them decorating the tree, Dorothea laughing because Edelgard couldn’t reach the top half of it to hang ornaments. She had always wanted to hang the star on it, a distant dream. “Do you… like it?”

“Byleth…” Dorothea trailed off, and when she looked up, she had tears in her eyes. She handed the book to Edelgard before standing and practically throwing herself on top of Byleth. “I love you, this is beautiful. And we thought you had a new girlfriend.”

Edelgard was still on the floor, staring dumbfounded at the scrapbook, running her hands over the pages and the pictures, recalling moments that were now made eternal on something she could touch and see. Byleth wanted to reach out to her as well, but she had Dorothea on her lap who was in the middle of trying to kiss her senseless.

“El,” Byleth managed in between butterfly kisses, “everything okay?”

“Thank you. Really.” Edelgard didn’t say anything else, joining them on the couch and cuddling into the both of them. “Is this why you were so insistent on the pictures… I don’t even remember you taking most of these.” 

“That’s the good thing about photos,” Byleth said, “you always have something to remember the smaller moments by, even if it was just a quiet afternoon.”

And that was true as they spent a good amount of time that Christmas day going through the scrapbook, reminiscing over the photos one by one as they made hot chocolate and called their friends to wish them a good day (Mercedes insisting that most of the work had indeed been Byleth’s). They kept the scrapbook close by for both good days and bad, Byleth’s reminder of why she loved her girls and why they chose one another each and every day.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry (early) Christmas and Happy Holidays to the polyam sapphics from our two hands to yours xD
> 
> <3 Molls & Lina


End file.
